Percussion actuated non-electric (PAN) disrupters or dearmers are often used by military personnel, bomb squads, and other emergency service personnel in the destruction and disablement of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other bombs and/or ordnance. A typical PAN disrupter comprises a heavy duty 12-gauge shotgun barrel which can be operated remotely through the use of a robot, for example, in order to facilitate firing of the device from a safe distance. The PAN disrupter is often engaged electrically or by a shock tube. Such a PAN disrupter uses specially designed 12-gauge shotgun ammunition in conjunction with various sighting methods which predominantly use a laser sight.
Typically, compact disrupter barrels, used for destroying IEDs, are unable to absorb the recoil created by the high energy cartridges used for this purpose. The energy generated causes the disrupter, if not restrained, to travel in the opposite direction at a high velocity and for a long distance. In one test, a disrupter traveled approximately 70 yards. Obviously, this reaction is undesirable for safety reasons, collateral damage or surrounding objects and for the loss of the disrupter. In addition, the recoil may not allow the disrupter to be mounted to a light weight robot since the force generated by the recoil may cause significant damage to the robot when fired.
Therefore, a need exists to provide a device and method to overcome the above problems of the prior art.